The advent of open access, digitised institutional repositories (IR) changed the way that
research at universities and research institutions are stored, archived, accessed and generally
managed. Statistics shows that only 3% of IRs in the world is situated in Africa. Most of these
are found in institutions in Southern Africa. Nyambi (2011), Anbu (2008) and other authors
report that there are more IRs in Africa, but lament that most are not accessible in open access.
Research (Van Deventer & Pienaar, 2008; Rieger, 2011; Wells, 2009) and others, shows that effective information- and knowledge management, and an awareness of the value of open
access to digital research information are pre-requisites for effective and sustainable IRs
operations. Successful planning and implementation of an IR do not guarantee sustainability
over time. This paper explores possible indicators of sustainability for IRs who are facing the
well documented challenges experienced in African IRs.

The advent of open access, digitised institutional repositories (IR) changed the way that
research at universities and research institutions are stored, archived, accessed and generally
managed. Statistics shows that only 3% of IRs in the world is situated in Africa. Most of these
are found in institutions in Southern Africa. Nyambi (2011), Anbu (2008) and other authors
report that there are more IRs in Africa, but lament that most are not accessible in open access.
Research (Van Deventer & Pienaar, 2008; Rieger, 2011; Wells, 2009) and others, shows that effective information- and knowledge management, and an awareness of the value of open
access to digital research information are pre-requisites for effective and sustainable IRs
operations. Successful planning and implementation of an IR do not guarantee sustainability
over time. This paper explores possible indicators of sustainability for IRs who are facing the
well documented challenges experienced in African IRs.

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application/pdf

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eng

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Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)

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dc.rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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dc.source

Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)

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Repositorio Académico - UPC

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dc.subject

Institutional Repository

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dc.subject

Case study

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Africa

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dc.subject

ETD2012

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dc.title

Measuring the Sustainability of the African Institutional Repository: A selective case study